China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Creating quality underground places
Published in Elizabeth Reynolds, Underground Urbanism, 2019
Wayfinding is the process by which people are able to understand their location relative to a destination, and the route/s able to be taken between those points. Clear wayfinding strategies not only improve user experience, but assist escape in the event of an emergency. Familiar points of reference and clearly identifiable means of escape are particularly important in underground places, that can be confusing due to a lack of typical visual cues such as windows to a street outside. There is a growing amount of research on digital wayfinding applications that use 3D mapping of a building, sensors, and even augmented reality, to help users navigate underground places. These interactive maps build upon products such as Google’s Indoor Maps, and enable users not only to identify a route to their destination, but also to understand their own location at any given moment, potentially saving time in the event of an emergency (Yokoi et al., 2015). At New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, datasets are being used to help visitors navigate their way through 20 different but interconnected buildings using a mobile application (MMA, 2016). These technologies may also benefit visually impaired users, providing them with additional layers of information and audible or sensory (vibrating) responses (Black et al., 2017). One challenge associated with this approach however, is that if the technology (or even just the battery on a phone) fails, then users might not have a manual wayfinding strategy to fall back on.
Transportation
Published in Sara J. Czaja, Walter R. Boot, Neil Charness, Wendy A. Rogers, Designing for Older Adults, 2019
Sara J. Czaja, Walter R. Boot, Neil Charness, Wendy A. Rogers
The Airport Cooperative Research Program recently asked older air travelers about the challenges they encounter most frequently at airports, and identified four major issues: (a) wayfinding problems, (b) fatigue, (c) difficulty using airport technology and equipment, and (d) challenges using airport amenities. “Wayfinding” refers to the process of navigating in unfamiliar surroundings. Wayfinding during air travel includes navigating to the correct terminal and gate as well as locating airport restrooms, restaurants, and help counters. Fatigue can occur because of the many steps in the air travel process that involve standing in line for long periods of time, walking long distances with baggage, and lifting and retrieving baggage from belts and compartments. With respect to technology, kiosks have become very popular as a means for passengers to check in and obtain boarding passes as well as to prepare documentation to cross borders during international travel, but older adults may have less experience with this and similar technologies, making them less accessible to older travelers. Finally, shopping and food areas are often crowded and congested, making their use difficult. To a certain extent, all air travelers deal with these problems, but age-related changes in perception, cognition, and physical ability make these issues particularly challenging, frustrating, and stressful for older air travelers.
Virtual Environments
Published in Julie A. Jacko, The Human–Computer Interaction Handbook, 2012
Kay M. Stanney, Joseph V. Cohn
Effective multimodal interaction design and use of perceptual illusions can be impeded if navigational complexities arise. Navigation is the aggregate of wayfinding (e.g., cognitive planning of one’s route) and the physical movement that allows travel throughout a VE (Darken and Peterson 2002). A number of tools and techniques have been developed to aid wayfinding in virtual worlds, including maps, landmarks, trails, and direction finding. These tools can be used to display current position, current orientation (e.g., compass), log movements (e.g., “breadcrumb” trails), demonstrate or access the surround (e.g., maps, binoculars), or provide guided movement (e.g., signs, landmarks) (Chen and Stanney 1999). For example, Burigat and Chittaro (2007) found 3D arrows to be particularly effective in guiding navigation throughout an abstract VE. Darken and Peterson (2002) provided a number of principles concerning how best to use these tools. If effectively applied to VEs, these principles should lead to reduced disorientation and enhanced wayfinding in large-scale VEs.
Human wayfinding behaviour and metrics in complex environments: a systematic literature review
Published in Architectural Science Review, 2021
Hassan Iftikhar, Parth Shah, Yan Luximon
VE’s have been used in research on spatial navigation for the last two decades. Multiple studies have used VE on a computer screen, such as desktop virtual reality (DVR) (Cubukcu and Nasar 2005; Omer and Goldblatt 2007) and AR systems (Hedley 2008; Lonergan and Hedley 2014). A study (Coutrot et al. 2019) has tested the virtual navigation on mobile devices and found it instrumental in predicting the real-world wayfinding errors. The study found a significant correlation between human wayfinding performance in virtual and real-world environmental settings. With the advent of technology, fully immersive VE have been developed for research on wayfinding. Head-mounted displays (HMD) have been used to display the fully immersive VE, allowing the user to have a 360-degree view of the experiment. Studies have used equipment such as the HTC Vive in conjunction with the steam VR positioning system for wayfinding research (Cao, Lin, and Li 2019; Niehorster, Li, and Lappe 2017). Multiple studies have been conducted in VR with different variations of HMD for the exploration and evaluation of indoor and outdoor wayfinding (Creem-Regehr et al. 2015; Lingwood et al. 2015; Meng and Zhang 2014; Tang, Wu, and Lin 2009; Vilar et al. 2013).
Who needs automotive on-board navigation systems? Predicting operational performance from spatial anxiety and gender differences
Published in Transportation Planning and Technology, 2020
Jenhung Wang, Yen-Chieh Wang, Chung-Wei Shen, Pei-Chun Lin
Wayfinding is goal-directed navigation in which people must adopt a strategy to find a target location (Saucier et al., 2002). Women are more likely to report using a route strategy (e.g. ask for directions about turning right or left at particular streets or landmarks), whereas men are more likely to report using an orientation strategy (e.g. ask for directions about whether to go east, west, north, or south) (Lawton 1994). In giving directions, men are more abstract and Euclidian, using miles and north–south–east–west terms, whereas women are more concrete and personal, using landmarks and left–right terms (Dabbs et al. 1998). Differences in spatial ability between women and men are considered to be among the most consistent gender differences in cognitive abilities (Lawton and Morrin 1999).